PROS
Excellent high ISO images, nice LCD, variety of user adjustments, solid body

CONS
Occasional purple fringing, uses less popular xD memory

COMMENTS
After much research, I purchased a Fuji F20 in order to shoot in low light conditions without flash. The F20 (and its virtually identical sibling the F30) includes Fuji's 6th generation SuperCCD sensor that promises high sensitivity in low light conditions without the usual image noise associated with conventional digital camera sensors. The F20's ISO range of 100 2000 turns out to be quite useable throughout the range. I've taken hundreds of pictures in low light at ISO 800, 1600, and 2000 and the images are simply unmatched for their clarity, color fidelity, and lack of noise. There is no other point and shoot camera that can hold a candle to the Fuji sensor's low light capabilities. The noise "grain" at high ISOs has none of the multicolored pixels that dominate the high ISO images from competitive cameras. In addition, the Fuji comes wrapped in a nice, solid body with good ergonomics and features for its small size.

Prior to purchasing the F20, I've been using a Canon A610 (an excellent camera all around) and have been spoiled by the fine Canon image quality under normal lighting conditions (using ISO 50 200). It's hard to beat the Canon in daylight using its low ISO settings. When pushing the Canon to its ISO 400 limit, the images are very good but the multi colored pixel noise is obvious if not distracting. The Fuji F20, on the other hand, produces images at ISO 800 that are easily comparable to the Canon's ISO 400 and, in many cases, even its ISO 200 setting. The Fuji can snap photos under low, natural lighting that the Canon can't even attempt without using its flash. At normal print sizes, I find the F20's ISO 1600 images completely printable and useable. Several professional reviews have compared the Fuji F20/F30 image quality at ISO 800/1600 against digital SLR output at similar ISOs and found the Fuji output to hold its own remarkably well. Now that I've used the F20 in a variety of shooting conditions I can say that its low light output indeed sets a new industry benchmark. The Fuji F20/F30 has opened up a whole new range of shooting modes that have simply not been possible without investing in high end SLR equipment.

For those who've been wondering whether to go for the F30 or save some dough with the F20, here's my take. First, the F20 and F30 share the exact same 6MP sensor, processor, and lens. There will be no difference in image quality between the two cameras. What the F30 offers is aperture or shutter priority modes, a higher resolution LCD monitor, ISO 3200 instead of 2000, and a longer battery runtime. However, the F30's pseudo manual mode may only be marginally satisfying to those craving full manual control since, like most point and shoot digitals, the f stops are limited by the zoom setting you've chosen. I have seldom relied on using aperture or shutter priority modes in my point and shoot cameras since the program modes are excellent for most of my shots. As for the LCD, I have compared the F20 and F30 side by side and there's little to differentiate them especially since the F20 includes a 153,000 pixel LCD that is already at a higher resolution than most other 2.5 inch screens on competitive cameras. The LCD alone should not be the deciding factor. Battery life is very good on the F20 and typical of most consumer cameras at about 250+ shots per charge; however, the F30 nearly doubles the capacity per a single charge and this can be significant for many users who don't wish to have a spare battery on hand. Personally, I like to have a spare battery handy since I may not always have a full charge on the in camera battery when I go shooting. That's just my preference to safeguard against being totally stuck. Finally, the F30 has an ISO 3200 at its top end compared to the F20's ISO 2000. But nearly everyone is of the opinion that the F30's ISO 3200 is much less useable than the F20's ISO 2000 (and this may explain why Fuji reduced the F20 setting to something more realistic). All the other controls such as ISO selection, focus modes, scene modes, LCD refresh rates, and low light ("anti blur" as Fuji likes to call it) are the same between the F20 and F30. To summarize: The F20 and F30 are identical cameras in terms of image quality. The F30 comes at a competitive price with some nice additions (though not quite deal breaking if image quality is your goal). But the F20 value is simply remarkable and the price difference goes a long way towards buying you a 512 MB xD memory card and spare battery.

There is very little to dislike about the F20. Fuji's 6th generation sensor delivers on its promise for high ISO performance. Some folks think that Fuji's color saturation is understated but I find it quite natural and more representative of the original scene. The preference for enhanced color saturation is nothing new people like "better than real life" colors and so many manufacturers boost the saturation in order to generate what the customer believes looks good. To address this, the F20 provides a "FujiChrome" color setting to boost saturation but I find the Standard setting to be the most accurate.

As for lens performance, I have found moderate amounts of purple fringing in the high contrast areas of some images. I'm sure Fuji will eventually solve this problem as some other manufacturers have. I have been impressed at how my Canon A610 is totally free of purple fringing at all focal lengths. Keep in mind that this purple effect is usually only noticeable when you view the remote details of your images at full size on your computer screen. You will seldom detect it in printed photos unless your prints are huge or highly cropped. Focusing performance has been very good with only a few mis focused shots in very low light settings with the flash disabled. Nothing unusual here.

On the controls front, Fuji has provided a good range of controls such as exposure compensation, multiple scene/low light modes, various flash modes, and an unbeatable ISO range. There's a really neat mode called Natural+Flash that shoots your scene with and without flash with a single shutter press. This ensures that you'll always get a good picture to choose from and you won't have to ask people to wait while you change camera modes. Very, very clever. I also find Fuji's menu system to be fast and logical to manipulate which is especially useful since most modes are accessed (quickly) through the menu system.

Besides manual ISO settings, Fuji also includes a couple modes called AUTO (400) and AUTO (1600) that limits the highest ISO that the camera can select. I really wish they would have thrown in an AUTO (800) setting since I have no problem allowing the F20 to select up to ISO 800 for just about any photo purpose. Just remember to dial in 1/3 or 2/3 compensation if you'll be shooting in bright outdoors you'll help avoid blown highlights that can never be recovered in pp.

The only other minor issue is that Fuji is still sticking it out with xD memory while the rest of the world has virtually standardized on SD cards. Not a major deal, but it will probably require you to buy an xD card (I had to) and possibly a new card reader if you're coming from a different brand camera. I will probably buy the reader since I'm not fond of downloading images by plugging in the camera to my PC every time. It would also be nice if Fuji included a separate battery charger instead of requiring the camera to be plugged in for charging. But this is the concession for making this camera available at such a low price and so I won't blame Fuji for that.

Having owned three Canon digital cameras (S10, A60, and A610) I thought long and hard about the switch to Fuji. The Canons are superb cameras and you're hard pressed to get a bad image from them. However, I've increasingly found that I prefer to shoot natural light/low light scenes without flash and it is under these conditions that the limitations of conventional imaging sensors become apparent. This is where the F20 shines and I haven't found any competitive sensor technology that comes close.

Fuji is poised to introduce some amazing cameras using this 6th generation sensor. But they will need the commitment to make sure that their entire camera line up performs well from the lowest model to the highest. Success can't be built on just one or two successful models amongst a line up of average offerings. This may well explain the success of Canon every one of their cameras is a generally a high performer in its market segment. If Fuji implements their remarkable new sensors across the board and standardizes on SD memory, just imagine the choices we'll have! I applaud Fuji for bringing revolutionary CCD technology (that delivers on its promise) to the low end market.